His Heaven
by nothingwillsuffice
Summary: She was a goddess, she just didn't know it. He decided to show her. Jerza AU. Complete.


Stars are giant balls of gas burning millions of miles away. From each other and the Earth. They hold no immense value, no superb place in the hearts of man. They are rocks covered in flame so that they shine brightly.

That is man's philosophy.

Stars are not just balls of burning rocks and gas. They are wondrous things. They can be so much more if you just know how to see it. If you know how to feel it. If you can touch the untouchable.

That is his philosophy.

Long ago, he was the only man to know the truth about the stars. To see with his own eyes in his own mind in his own way what their true form is. He was the only one, and naturally, he was gifted with an eternity with which to serve the Heavens.

He became the god of the cosmos: each star, each comet, each planet, each moon. Every hole, every galaxy, every universe.

He was content. He was complete.

After eons in lonesome, he came to believe that his rare ability to see the transparent and the unreal was his ability and his alone. No one else would join him. No one else would understand.

Then one day, she was born.

Her name was Erza. As a small child of Earth at no more than a year of age, she was brought out into the night, when the Heavens' true beauty is shown. Her amber eyes stared amazedly at the sky, and her extended hands reached for the glittery lights above.

She was such a beautiful child, a truly graceful soul. He decided to commend her birth with a special gift. He took the lights he set to the North and brought them southeast. A phenomenon occured that night for man.

Colorful waves of light danced across the sky overhead, illuminating the land in a soft rainbow. For miles men and women saw the lights.

Her warm, brown orbs full of innocence and wonder gazed up at the sky as if she was seeing something incredible. Something beyond the world of man. He knew she was no ordinary child.

From then on, the lights appeared every year on her birthday.

His interest in her grew as she aged. At three she had drawn her first picture. It was of the night sky and all its stars. A black piece of parchment with neon crayon scribbled on it in messy shapes.

The stars were round masses of splotched, yellow wax with glitter thrown on top. He smiled.

At age five, she saw her first shooting star. Her enthusiasm was unlike any other he had seen at the sight of a blazing comet falling victim to Earth's pull.

She had known it was magical.

At age seven, she sat in her backyard gazing at the stars. Her pencil was moving with careful vigor, quickly enough to capture the very second each star glittered and shined its brightest, the sharp lead of her pencil gliding across the white expanse of her blank-paged book with ease.

Each Heavenly Body was drawn as meticulously as she could, a jagged, warped dot surrounded by shaded darkness. She had created her own sky.

At age nine, she connected her stars. Her sky became a canvas for her imagination, and a story was revealed. The characters she could see, the _realm_ she uncovered.

He watched her every day after.

When she was eleven, she made her first prayer out to him. She prayed for blessings, she prayed for more stars and more bright nights, she prayed for good fortune. When others prayed for longer days, she prayed for longer nights. She wished for stars and other heavenly wonders of the night.

When man said that they could read the stars, she took the oppurtunity. Man also said that they could read his intentions for fate. For their fate. He almost laughed at such foolishness.

She was the only one beside himself who could read the Heavens' stories.

On her fifteenth birthday, she recieved a telescope. She could peer closer at the stars above and truly see their beauty. She also used the telescope to find other stars she had never seen. Those far away that could not be seen by the naked eye.

Eventually, Erza came to know the names of the characters in her sky. She recognized them without much thought and was able to read the stories he had laid out for them. The stories he had willingly gifted her.

Through the stars, he told her stories about gods and heroes, myths and legends. He showed her many stories, but none he was as happy to show her as his own. A story of a man, poor and alone, with nothing but the dark Heavens and its light bodies; a dimension he craved to explore. How his selflessness and intrigue, his eyes and his heart, earned him the greatest gift he had ever known.

He showed her the depth of her sky, of his realm, and the depth of time. He watched her eyes sparkle with the lights of Heaven as time passed by. He watched her grow older with every passing day and still cling to the stars he brought. He watched her visit the shrine man had made for him every evening, and thank him.

He watched her, and watched over her. His fascination with her was startling, to say the least. Though understandable. He had never seen another like her. She was a unique sort of special one could not just ignore.

Soon, he found himself only wishing to make her happy. To give her more wondrous things to gaze at and admire. To satiate her thirst for Heaven's beauty. And it was on a night like several others that he came to a shocking realization.

He found _her_ beauty more enthralling.

On the night of her twenty-first birthday, when the colorful lights were dancing high in the sky, he sat beside her. He didn't know what it was that drew himself to her. Maybe it was her beauty. Maybe it was his appreciation for her. Maybe it was her being alone.

He was compelled to be close to her. Even if she could not see him, even if she could not hear him, even if she hardly knew he existed; she could feel him. He was there, he knew she knew he was there, that was all the mattered to him.

Her presence was like a breath of intoxicatingly fresh air, better than any other essence to have entered his system. He felt renewed by her side, inexplicably different than the man he had been; the god he was.

As they sat side by side on the cool grass of the night, they watched the colored lights he had brought from the North. He saw her smile, felt the warmth and hard thrum of his pulse, and decided that he wanted to make her smile more. He wanted more of her happiness.

His fingers swept across the sky and brought about ripples, as if turning the cosmos to water, causing the stars to move and align differently. He told her another story that night. One about mages and guilds and evil forces that wanted darkness. About how a single soldier, with her immense power and prowess, saved the land from ruin.

Her smile was more radiant than even his stars that night.

Her twenty-first year of life was the same for her. However, it was very different for him. When he left her for his duties, he felt a staggering emptiness: also unexplainable. It left his chest feeling hollow and his stomach knotting uncomfortably from it. He seemed to lose a certain, rather essential, piece of himself when apart from her.

Then he would return from turning the hands of mortals' time and suddenly feel an electric joy. His time with her seemed everlasting and he found himself wanting it to stay that way.

 _What is this I feel?_ He asked himself too often. It was a foreign emotion he had never felt before, not even when he was human. If he had, he didn't remember it. It was strong, though. So strong. It always brought him back to her.

One day, during her twenty-first year of life, she traveled a stone path into the mountains. Once every half year, she visited his true shrine. The one in town, upon a hill, was placed for convenience. His true shrine was placed upon a mountain so that it may be close to the stars, his home.

When she arrived, it was early evening and he was bringing the sun down slowly. She kneeled at his shrine and bowed her head, her hands together as she whispered her prayer. "Oh, great _Tenjin_. . ."

Again he watched her. He brought himself down to be with her, and he watched her. The thought pained him some. Would he always just _watch_ her? He found himself longing to have a conversation with her. His presence was stronger here, at the place of worship closest to his home. Maybe he could. . .

"Erza." his voice came out as a whisper. Her hands tightened themselves as she continued to pray. When she was done, she placed two candles beside his shrine and placed her offering of mooncake in front.

"Erza." he called again, almost desperate for his voice to be heard by her. An odd feeling of warmth engulfed his heart as she lit the candles, gave her final words, and turned around to leave.

Her eyes were so brown, so warm, and her hair was a fiery scarlet unlike any other human's. She was a wonder.

"Erza." he called again from his shrine. Louder. He was anchored there. She might not have been able to hear his voice if he didn't stay put. She stopped walking away, and he could feel her heart hammering in her chest.

"Come." he called again, hoping to get her to turn around. For the moment, it was all he could say. He was too happy. Too overflowing with this strange- _strong_ \- emotion to say anymore, anything other than "Come."

She turned around tentatively. Her eyes wandered about cautiously as she looked for the owner of the voice she's heard. There was ni one else to be seen in the brown-lit hills of the mountains near his shrine. Erza settled her gaze on his shrine after her wary look around. " _Tenjin-sama_?" she murmered, unsure of herself.

"I am here." he said boldly. He was sure his words still sounded as whispers in her ears. She came closer to him. She looked at him, but she could not see him. He was certain, though, that she could feel him. His presence was strong there, at his high shrine.

The night drew near as he lowered the sun to the horizon. Its rays shone brightly against the sky, painting it pink and orange, and against her hair, lighting an inner flame within her fiery locks.

He could feel himself becoming anxious. Erza stepped curiously, cautiously, up to the shrine again. She sat before it and her offering waiting for more of his words. A sign. Something.

Night drew near, but not quickly enough. He could not speed up time for himself, that was selfish. He would have to wait as others do. He watched sadly as a disappointed frown made its way onto Erza's face. He didn't like it.

"What was I thinking? It's getting late. . ." she said to herself. A scolding. He didn't want her to scold herself. He suddenly felt like she could do no wrong. The emotion was almost suffocating.

He willed himself to make her frown disappear. To banish her doubtful thoughts. He gently made a fist and held it out to her. He opened it wide and revealed a small ball of light. A star.

Her eyes widened in surprise. She looked up to the shrine and knelt before it again. Her hands came below the ball of light, letting it rest there. It was not hot. It was warm, but not hot. It tickled her skin and sent a warmth throughout her body. She brought the star close.

Her warm, amber eyes full of wonder stared at his shrine with hope. Hope for what exactly, he was unsure. But it didn't matter. Night had come.

He called upon his Heavenly Bodies to come down to him. They amassed in a bright cluster of power and regal beauty. A wave of warmth passed over the land from where he formed his physical body, setting the mountain aglow.

There he stood in all his glory. She stared in awe at his physical form. He was blinding, a gorgeous entity embellished in golden garb. His hair was an azure blue, as deep as the evening sky. His eyes, golden and bright as the stars in his sky, complemented his night-hair perfectly.

She found herself entranced by his eyes. Pulled in and trapped without mercy. His eyes were more beautiful than even the greatest stars. The Heavenly Bodies that created his form did him justice, she assumed, with his powerful stature and strong, taut build.

He gave her a soft smile, one that shook her from her trance. His regal presence had shocked her into paralysis. She immediately brought her forehead to the stone ground. "My lord. I am eternally grateful for your gifts."

He suddenly didn't like her kneeling and bowing to him anymore. "Please, Erza, do not bow to me. Stand. Please." he almost pleaded with her.

His voice was kind and undemanding. She wondered why someone as great as he would request something of her so kindly. She didn't hesitate to raise her head and rise to her feet at his wish. She didn't meet his gaze, however. To look him in the eye. . .

"Y-You know my name?" she felt stupid saying it. Of course he knew her name, he was a _god._ "I do." he said. Then he did something she never thought anyone of his prestige would ever do.

He stooped down on one knee in front of her.

He gingerly took her slightly clammy hand in his own, and he snapped his golden optics to hers. His gaze held hers as he slowly, enchantedly, lifted her hand and placed a light kiss upon it. She was stunned beyond words.

After the kiss that left her hand burning, he stood again. He held her gaze still. She was at a loss for how to respond, so she waited. His eyes were so kind, his smile was so soft, he was so gentle, it almost frightened her.

"Erza." he said, voice deep and grand. She waited for him to say more, but he was silent. He seemed almost as if he was dreaming. "Yes?" she replied, unsure of herself.

He extended his arms towards her, his hands aligned with hers. "May I?" he asked genuinely. She was confused. Gods didn't have to ask for anything, they were divine entities that were entitled to their every desire. Why would he ask a mortal for anything?

She nodded, not trusting her voice enough to respond verbally. He took both of her hands in his. Touching him was indescribable. Heat from his light rushed up her arms and an odd peace washed over her.

"I have watched you for many years," he started, not really knowing how explain other than to voice his thoughts, "as you gazed at my stars in my infinite sky, as you read the stories I wrote in the Heavens and sought more, as you discovered the true purpose of the stars,"

He brought her closer. Or he brought himself closer. He couldn't tell. "You are the only other who understands. The only other who sees what I see in the stars. You are special. You are a wonder." She blushed at his words.

" _Tenjin-sama-_ "

"Please, Erza," he stopped her softly, "do not call me that; that is my holy name. The name I was given at birth is Jellal." he said kindly, but with finality. He would have her address him as Jellal, anything else did not seem right.

"Jellal-sama-"

"Just Jellal." he asserted.

". . . Jellal. . ." she said, unsure, "it is an honor to be in your presence. Please do not speak of me so highly." he was a god she truly admired. He was responsible for a lot of the happiness in her life.

"And why not?" he asked, his tone tinged with some anger and displeasure. "You are wonderful, Erza. Over your lifetime I have come to undertand that you are able to see what others cannot. You are able to look beyond the farthest stars and see the true meaning in the sky and its Heavenly Bodies.

"You have eyes that hold a wisdom and knowledge that cannot be learned or taught. You are amazing. A phenomenon truer than the lights of your birthday." he smiled a true smile, one he couldn't say he had ever smiled before, for he would be lying.

She flushed further. "Jellal-sa- Jellal, I appreciate your kind words. Please tell me, why have you come?" she found herself eager to know his purpose for coming down to Earth.

His visage became slightly bashful. "My heart feels for you something I have never felt for another. Not even my stars or my sky, nor the Heavens or my stories. I am not sure what it is I feel or why, but I know it is strong and I feel it only for you. You are why I have come. To watch you was no longer enough. I wished to speak with you."

He wished to see her personally? What an honor it truly was! She wasn't sure what to say, so she said what came to mind first. "What is it you wish to speak about?" could she offer him satisfying words?

His thumbs brushed over her hands softly, as if he was trying to take in the texture of her skin. "Anything. Everything. I want to know your thoughts about the stars. I want to hear your stories for the Heavens. I want to know what it is you want, so that I may give it to you." his words were true.

Her eyes widened in surprise. He could see she was having trouble soaking everything in, accepting that he had come here for her and her alone. He guided her to a grassy spot beside his shrine so that they may sit side by side again, comfortably.

He asked her what she thought of his gifts, his stories and lights and shooting stars. She said that she loved them. He asked her what that meant.

"It means you have a deep regard and affection for something. You cherish it. Whatever you love, it is always with you, always on your mind, and you carry it in your heart. Love is something you feel for only the things dearest to you."

He nodded, and decided without needing much thought that he loved her. He kept the discovery to himself.

He asked her to tell him stories of her own. They were wonderful, intricate, and he could already see them perfectly woven into the stars. He decided then, without much thought either, that every one of her stories would have a place in his sky. He already remembered them all.

"Ah, I suppose I should give this to you." she said before he could ask another question. He watched her curiously, wondering what more she could give him other than the joy he felt.

She retrieved a small, wooden slate from in front of his shrine. Atop the slate was a small, round pastry. He accepted the pastry from her and eyed it oddly, wondering what it was.

"It is the offering I brought for you. Please, enjoy it." she said, motioning for him to eat it. He lifted it from the slate and took a small bite slowly, dazedly. He chewed it and swallowed, a happy smile on his face.

"This is delightful. What do you call it?" he took another bite. She smiled at his enthusiasm, glad to please him, and said, "Mooncake. It is a special pastry made in appreciation of the moon, which you bring to our skies at night. I thought it would please you."

He nodded his head as he chewed and swallowed. "Certainly. I appreciate it." he looked at the cake again, admiring its delicious filling and flavor. Suddenly, he frowned. He placed what was left of the cake on the slate.

"But I did not bring anything for you."

It was a simple statement, but it held more weight than it should. He did not need to bring her anything. He already brought her the sun and the moon, shooting stars, and dancing lights. He brought her so much happiness.

"Please, do not worry," she said, hopeful to make him feel better, "you have already given me enough. This offering is but a fraction of what I am truly indebted to you." she hoped he would understand.

He nodded, his eyes still on the mooncake in his lap. He then looked at her, his golden orbs looking straight into her own, peering into her soul.

"What is it you truly desire, Erza? From the bottom of your heart? Tell me."

She turned her gaze to the glittery night sky as a blissful smile played on her lips. "I wish to make my stories for the world to see. To enchant others with the wonders of the night sky and its stars."

He smiled another great, genuine smile. He almost chuckled. What a blessing it was for the both of them. He sat in silence envisioning a life where he made her wish come true.

"Come with me." he suddenly said. "What?" she asked, unsure of what he was suggesting. He took her hand in his once again and drew her eyes back to his own. "I will grant your wish. You, who has a heart of gold and eyes of truth, who holds my heart in her hands," she lightly gasped, "come with me to the skies above. We shall write stories together, give man more wondrous things to admire together, we will spend an eternity together."

He seemed excited, frighteningly so, and she wasn't sure she could make him as happy as he wanted to be. She was still startled from his confession, he wanted her to spend and eternity with him too?

"I am sorry, Jellal," she said ruefully, "While I appreciate and admire you, and while I cherish the Heavens and the stories you have made, I am afraid I do not have an eternity to give."

"I do," he said, reassuring, "I can give you an eternity, I can give you all of Heaven's stars," he stood, taking both of her hands in his again, he seemed to glow brighter, "I can give you my love, and the ability to make your own stories." his smile never faltered.

"Truly?" she asked, hopeful and unbelieving.

"I have never been more true." he was not lying.

Taking her hope and silence as an agreement, he let his power surge forward. Streaks of golden fire surrounded them and provided a soft heat. He brought her closer. His eyes looked from her eyes to her lips, then back again. He brought himself closer.

"Are you sure?" he said. Eternity was permanent. "Yes." came her breathy reply. She was nervous and anxious. Without another word, without wasting another second, he dipped his head and connected their lips.

The kiss was soft and warm, and it brought his heart and his essence closer to her own. She could feel his heat engulfing her as she deepened their kiss.

This man who had made the past twenty-one years of her life an adventure, who had made it a priority to make her happy, who had gifted to the world numerous wonders, deserved happiness, and he deserved her love. She would give it to him.

He beckoned the small star he gifted her from before to one of his hands and grasped it lightly. Without breaking the kiss, he presses the star against her chest and lets her body absorb it.

Erza feels a startling power surge through her, making her gasp and pull out of the kiss. She feels sleepy all of a sudden. Her head falls to his chest as his arms wrap around her waist, keeping her up and holding her to him.

He called upon his Heavenly Bodies to return to their rightful places, disintegrating his physical form. He gently dragged her eternal soul from her body as her physical form lay down on the stone before his shrine, next to her offering of mooncake that he hadn't finished, but bitten into a crescent shape. He decided that such a wondrous gift should not be wasted, so he made the crescent into a beautiful, golden necklace for her to wear.

Then, peacefully, he ascended, bringing her with him to the Heavens above. Again he felt content. He felt complete.

For she was his Heaven, and he had made her his goddess.

* * *

 ** _Tenjin: Heaven God; God of the Heavens._**

 ** _Ten_ _means "sky" or "Heaven" and_ _jin_ _means "deity" or "god."_**

 **I used Google to look it up but if it's wrong please tell me. We all know how iffy Google can be sometimes.**


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